Girl & boy name
Dawson
Dawson holds the #143 spot on the 2025 list of the most popular boy names in the U.S. That amounts to 2,487 newborn boys in a single year. The name is on the way up, moving from #197 in 2020 to #143 today. Its strongest year on record was 1999 (#136 nationally, 2,802 newborns), in a data series reaching back to 1885. The name's biggest fan base is in West Virginia (#33 there in 2025).
Rankings
Dawson popularity, 1880–2025
Where Dawson is most popular
Uniqueness score
A familiar pick that most people will recognize instantly. Based on how many babies per birth were named Dawson in the most recent year of SSA data.
Dawson as a girl name
As of 2025, Dawson ranks #2256 among American girls' names, according to Social Security records. 81 girls received the name that year. The ranking has held remarkably steady over the last five years. SSA records for Dawson go back to 1998; the peak came in 2023 at #1965, with 100 babies named that year. Geographically, it's strongest in North Carolina, where it ranks #1437 among girl names.